memory_betafandomcom-20200223-history
Talk:Ross Johnson
Rusty v Ross? So, apparently he had the name "Rusty" in one novel, and "Ross" in one novel. Why did this page end up being named "Rusty" as opposed to Ross? -- sulfur (talk) 12:15, December 29, 2016 (UTC) :I only discovered the name Ross after I had already renamed the page to Rusty Johnson. But "Rusty" is mentioned 4 times in Pawns and Symbols, while "Ross" is mentioned 2 times in "That Which Divides", so this does appear to be consistent with Memory Beta policy. --23:01, December 29, 2016 (UTC) Er... no. The policy/practice is how many DIFFERENT releases it's in. Not how many times in one it is in. -- sulfur (talk) 23:58, December 29, 2016 (UTC) :It would help if the Use common names section was expanded to clarify what exactly is meant by "common" (do reprints and ebook versions count as different releases?) and what to do when two names are equally common. --NetSpiker (talk) 12:43, January 1, 2017 (UTC) Why would a reprint count as a different release? It's the SAME book. -- sulfur (talk) 13:17, January 1, 2017 (UTC) ::There are reprints where details are updated, but I wouldnt consider it as a 'new/additional' mention unless there was actually a change to the info being tabulated. Same goes for translations I suppose. Those reprints that attempt retcons are rare and we generally dont recognize retcons except as contradictions (because the original subject matter is considered definitive in and of itself) -- but this isnt the case here for Ross Johnson ::There are a lot of these situations where judgment is required so it is not always possible to write a solid rule or policy like I think you would prefer. I certainly dont relish the idea of debating policy for extended periods of time. I think as rules of thumb the simple steps of checking against canon and using the most common name are quite sufficient, but here we have you counting a name using 4 times in one book, which i think is insufferably pedantic. ::Finally, and definitivelyto this tallk page topic i think, "Rusty" can (in the real world) commonly be used as a nickname instead of a proper name - so instead of trying to find a concrete policy rule about which to use (and doing counting of mentions), it would be a lot easier to use judgment as i mentioned and posit that perhaps a person with the proper name "Ross" could be referred to by the nickname "Rusty". -- Captain MKB 13:49, January 1, 2017 (UTC) :There's no need for insults. I only counted names and asked for clarification because Sulfur asked me to justify why I chose one name over the other and also because the issue of two names being equally common comes up a lot (Taylor Moore / Mills), (Attanasio Evan Hodgkin / Albert Elias Hodgkin). It's certainly possible for Rusty to be a nickname for Ross but that would be speculation. --NetSpiker (talk) 00:40, January 2, 2017 (UTC) ::Please don't confuse criticism of a process as a personal insult. Just because I consider it 'pedantic' to resort to word counts (which would deprecate names on a trivial, unsubstantial and worst of all, arbitrary basis), its not a personal issue, but one of policy where consensus needs the wiki to stay within simpler means. the needs of the many for a simpler wiki outweigh the needs of the few, or in this case, the one of you that seem to champion the cause of overcomplicating the way we vet info. ::On the topic, it certainly wouldn't be speculation, a nickname that is very similar phonetically to a proper given name is easily identifiable. We do keep the article Tom Paris for a man whose given name is Thomas, after all. -- Captain MKB 01:11, January 2, 2017 (UTC) :A page can only have one title, so either way, one name would have to be declared the primary name. In the absence of a specific policy, editors are going to choose which name they like best, which would still be arbitrary. But if you're okay with that, I won't to bring it up again. --NetSpiker (talk) 02:30, January 2, 2017 (UTC)